ROCKFORD — A few weeks ago, Kristin McDaniel was a frustrated shopper for health insurance.

The Loves Park resident needed help exploring her benefit options on the nearly month-old Illinois Health Insurance Marketplace. She recently started a job for a medical equipment delivery company, but she doesn't have health insurance.

After a few rounds of phone tag, she scheduled an appointment with an in-person counselor at the YWCA of Rockford this week. She's hoping to find an insurance plan that fits her needs.

"I was so frustrated before, but then I saw all over the news about people having a hard time getting through to the Obamacare websites," said McDaniel, 47.

Rock River Valley agencies like the YWCA have had some success enrolling residents in the marketplace since it and similar programs launched Oct. 1 across the country.

Illinois partnered with the federal government to run its marketplace, and computer glitches on the federal website, healthcare.gov, have taken the biggest blame for delays in signing people up for health insurance.

This month, state officials have pushed outreach and education about the marketplace and the expanded Medicaid program that are part of the Affordable Care Act, which became law in 2010. The federal health care reform law requires that most people have health insurance by 2014 or face a penalty for being uninsured when they file their taxes in 2015.

People need to sign up by Dec. 15 if they want coverage to start Jan. 1, but open enrollment runs through March 31.

An enrollment kickoff is planned for Nov. 2.

Local officials say 40,000 people in Winnebago County are uninsured; half are expected to qualify for expanded Medicaid access and half are expected to qualify for the state marketplace insurance plans.

Healthcare.gov was updated recently with a tool that allows users to get a basic estimate of insurance plan costs where they live. The site had been criticized before for making users enter personal information before getting estimates.

The estimates don't factor in tax credits and subsidies that most people with low-to-moderate incomes will qualify for to help them pay for their health insurance.

Early appointments have averaged about two hours, said Juliana Barker, coordinator of the in-person counselor grant program at the Health Department.

Page 2 of 2 - Counselors won't get too personal with the questions they ask, so as not to violate privacy laws. But they will inquire about your lifestyle, such as if you travel a lot and would prefer an insurance plan that covers services at out-of-network hospitals.

McDaniel said she typically goes to the doctor once a year. She most often visits Crusader Community Health, a federally qualified center that offers sliding-scale discounts for uninsured patients.

The state plans are labeled bronze, silver, gold and platinum, with bronze having the lowest costs and platinum having the highest. There are also catastrophic-coverage plans for younger residents.

Plans take into account your age, family size, income and where you live. For example, the lowest proposed monthly rate for a bronze plan is $120 for a 25-year-old in Chicago and $128 in Peoria. For a 40-year-old, it's $152 in Chicago and $163 in Peoria.